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In the aftermath of the awful incident at Bondi, Australia is confronting several critical conversations. There is a long-overdue national focus on antisemitism, an persistent worry about public safety, and questions about how such an event could happen. However, from the perspective of a health professional and Australian Jew, the paramount dialogue we are finally having revolves around firearms.

Ten Years of Warnings and a Successful Solution

Public health experts have been sounding alarms about guns for a minimum of a ten-year period. Following the events of the Port Arthur tragedy, Australians came together and implemented a series of reforms to reduce gun violence across the country. And it worked. Prior to 1996, the nation witnessed roughly one large-scale firearm incident per year. In the decades since, there have been extremely rare major events, with none reaching the death toll of the incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.

This Recent Tragedy and the Function of Existing Regulations

Amidst the Bondi events, the nation's gun laws were not entirely useless. It has been suggested the individuals involved possessed with bolt-action rifles and at least one straight-pull shotgun. These firearms can only fire a one round at a time, requiring a manual operation to chamber the next round. While these guns are capable of being discharged rapidly with lethal results, they remain far slower and more cumbersome than the high-capacity, semi-automatic rifles commonplace in international mass shootings. The casualty count at Bondi could have been much greater if more advanced firearms had been accessible.

Stopping a future Bondi demands unity across all states. Regrettably, there are already cracks in the united front.

A System Showing Weakness

However, the terrible toll of the attack reveals that existing gun laws are inadequate. Designed in the late 1990s with the noblest aims, decades have worn away their effectiveness. Alarmingly, there are currently more firearms in Australia than before the Port Arthur massacre, with some individuals in cities owning arsenals numbering in the hundreds.

We have been complacent and it has exacted a terrible price.

The Road Forward: Proposed Changes

Since the Bondi attack, there have been numerous announcements regarding strengthened firearm legislation. New South Wales specifically will shortly introduce a package of measures to mitigate the public danger posed by firearms. The national government has announced a fresh gun buyback, and there is hope for a countrywide gun database, despite the inherent challenges of coordinating state and federal jurisdictions.

All of this are feasible provided that the nation acts in unison. As stated, when it comes to gun control, the country is dependent on its weakest link. This is the reality of the Australian system – regulations in one state are easily circumvented if they can be bypassed with a journey across a border.

Countering Common Arguments

There is the predictable argument that "guns don't kill people, people kill people". This is true in the identical way that aircraft do not fly passengers, aviators do. Certainly, planes can't fly themselves, but it would be virtually impossible for a captain to transport 500 people internationally without the aircraft. The horrific violence witnessed at Bondi would be all but impossible without firearms, and would have been significantly less lethal if the accused individuals had not had access to the weapons they possessed.

Weighing Necessity and Safety

There are legitimate needs for some Australians to possess guns. Farm work or controlling vermin in rural areas is incredibly hard without them. A total ban of guns from the country is impractical, as in some cases they are essential tools.

The achievable goal – the imperative action – is to ensure that gun laws are modernized to accurately reflect the world we live in today. Australia's legislation have long been the admiration of the world, but time and distance has done its work and the nation is less secure as it once was. It is vital to take the lessons of Bondi seriously, and ensure that future generations are equally safe as previous generations have been.

As one commentator remarked after the Bondi attack, "things like this just don't happen here". They don't, but solely due to the fact that the country has collectively worked to keep itself safe. As nightmarish as the attack was, there is an aspiration that it can become the last one the nation ever sees.